Day 28: Pearl’s Beauty Salon Hair and Nails

[broken_exorcist]

[[From here]]

It'd been difficult for Allen to walk a straight line to the shop when there was so much to see in the town.  He held open the door for Rinali, then followed her inside.

It did ease his mind a little bit when he read the sign proclaiming "Haircuts-Men, Women, and Children!"  At least it wasn't a shop solely for women, as he'd been lead

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[part1of3]

[ from here ]

Ashton shyly peeked into the salon, face still burning from the rather bawdy thoughts that boasted free rein of his mind at the moment. Oh, how he was hoping there were no telepaths in here! How he was hoping. It wasn't like he overly minded people knowing who he was thinking about - that was probably pretty obvious to anyone who saw them together, he had to admit - but that he was thinking these thoughts at all, in a public place of all places... that really bothered him.

The swordsman looked around. Put him out of your mind, he was mentally instructing himself.

Hopefully the ladies here wouldn't think that his blushing meant that he was too shy to get his nails done, or.. or possibly his toenails! It wasn't his fault that he really appreciated the finer things in life, or that pretty rings looked the best on hands that were well-taken-care-of, or that he wasn't exactly the manliest of men!.. No, no, it sure wasn't. But it had been so long since he'd been able to pamper himself!

Finally, the effeminate man took a seat by the front door, waiting patiently. And trying not to let his thoughts get the best of him. And pushing down the dull headache that was beginning to gnaw at the back of his head..

[icy_pole]

[From further down]

Ami weaved her way around the group of people and over towards Ashton. "Hi," she said shyly. It felt like ages since she had first met him, though it had only been three nights ago. "How are you, Ashton-san?"

[part1of3]

"H-huh?" Ashton had been staring at his lap and fidgeting in his seat, but the greeting caused him to jump nearly about a foot. Oh, he knew that face! He'd only seen her in the dark before, but she was .. well, she was more fair in the light. It was nice.

He pressed his lips together, wondering what he could say in reply. "A-Ami. Um." He swallowed. Hopefully.. she wasn't a telepath or anything. "It's.. it's been a long time," he stuttered. Hopefully the girl had found her friends. He was happy he'd found his own. That night... that was the night he'd met Claude. That was the night that Dias had been injured.

The swordsman swallowed, wondering how he should reply to her question. "A.. a lot has happened. It's not altogether pleasant stuff, and.. it's kind of hard to talk about, but.. you should watch out at night, okay? I- I mean, not just for the.." - here Ashton's voice dropped to a near whisper, as if he were actually frightened of such a thing "- monsters."

He was flushed up beyond belief, especially now that his thoughts had been interrupted.

[full_score]

((From here. ))

Claude opened the door and took a look around, eyebrows raised as he finally got a good look at the people in here. There was actually a surprising number of men. And not exactly the type he'd imagine hanging around in a place like this, either. That made him feel a little better about wandering in here, but only marginally so.

Actually, there were only two girls, from what he could see -- someone he hadn't a chance to meet yet, and that girl from his first night who almost reminded him of Rena. And next to her was...

"Ashton!" he said brightly before stepping completely inside, not thinking on whether he was interrupting something or not. After all, Ashton had told him to come find him, right? "There you are! I had a feeling I'd find you here. How're you doing?" He made sure to hold the door open for Guy, waving him in.

[icy_pole]

Ami was taken aback by Ashton's response. She frowned, her eyes full of concern. He certainly hadn't had the stutter when they'd first met. In fact, he had seemed full of confidence last time. I wonder what happened to make him change so much in such a short amount of time. Ami was worried. "I'll be careful," she said soothingly, moving to cover one of his hands with hers in an attempt to comfort him. She pulled back, blushing profusely, as a voice interrupted the conversation.

"Oh I'm sorry! I didn't realise you were meeting someone." She stood quickly, almost knocking over her chair and causing a pang of pain to shoot through her injured hand. Looking down at Ashton, concern evident on her face, Ami asked, "Would you like to meet up tomorrow at some point?"

[razing_phoenix]

A beauty salon? Guy hadn't been expecting that of all things. Wasn't Ashton a boy's name? Then again, he could have wanted to be here for the same reason that the emperor would have wanted to -- since it was where girls were likely to congregate.

Though that didn't seem to be the case in this particular salon. Guy was baffled by the amount of men that were there. Then again, it seemed like there were more male than female patients in general, so it was to be expected. To an extent.

Still, there were a few girls around, and one of them happened to be with the Ashton they were looking for. As Claude greeted his friend, Guy looked them both over; the girl was rather skittish, and he wasn't quite sure what to make of Ashton just yet.

Except that he didn't look like the womanizing type, which begged the question: Why had Claude expected he would be in a place like this? And why had he been right?

[part1of3]

And there Ashton had been, sitting all by his lonesome, when suddenly there were two more people beside him - Claude, and a guy he might have seen around in the lunch line or something.

He turned to Ami apologetically. If it was possible, his face was turning an even deeper shade of crimson. "I.. well, I didn't either, but.. I guess I am now. Aha.. ha.." He flinched, looking up at Claude apologetically for a moment, then back at Ami, who seemed rather flustered all of a sudden. He hoped he hadn't made her uncomfortable. Well, apparently it wasn't too bad, if she had wanted to see him again. "Um.. yes.. we should see each other tomorrow. Or sometime. Sorry about this." He almost asked if she was okay, then thought better of it.

Finally, he turned back up to Claude. "Really? Well, you found me. I mean, I know I really need a manicure, but.." The swordsman folded his hands in his lap. Was it that obvious that his cuticles were a little ungroomed? Well, he was here partially because he needed someone to talk to, and salon ladies were always good for that, but Claude would do. Sort of.

There were so many things he needed to tell his best friend.

But then Claude had to go and ask how Ashton was, and that was kind of difficult to answer. He'd talked to a very nice butcher today, met a few new people.. and then he'd started thinking. About things. And then there was a headache that was tickling his head like it was about to come on full-force any minute now. And then there was the part of him that was sick of the trauma, and just wanted to take a nap. "It's.. kind of, um, mixed. I mean.. I mean, there are some things that are really great." He couldn't hold back a smile at this! "But.. oh, I mean, it's.. well, mostly I'm how you'd expect I'd be after a night like that." He wasn't particularly eager to talk about the surgery again just yet, but the answer would suffice for Claude.

As chatty as Ashton felt that moment, though, he couldn't help but fall silent as he looked Guy over. Kind of a nice, clean-cut-looking sort. Good-looking, but not in a pervasive way. "Ah.. I'm sorry. You must be a friend of Claude's.. I mean, I'm assuming.. ah. I'm Ashton - Ashton Anchors."

[full_score]

Oh, had Claude interrupted something? Judging by the fact the blue-haired girl had been reached for Ashton's hand, and seeing how Ashton's face was as red as a tomato, it certainly looked like it. And with the way she'd just shot up from her chair like that?

...It looked like this lady friend of Ashton's was maybe more than a regular friend. That was cute.

Maybe the fact Ashton liked to hang around places like these was so he could pick up nice-looking girls. Seemed like something Bowman would do, but whatever worked, right? Of course, it wasn't like there was anything serious going on here (he'd know about it if there was!), and Claude resisted the urge to elbow his friend to tease him. He had more decency than that! It wouldn't have been fair to Ashton's lady friend, after all.

And to think...he actually thought there might have been something between Ashton and...

Wow, I feel kind of ridiculous now, he said to himself, but he also felt a lot better. That's what I get for assuming things!

"Didn't, uh, mean to interrupt anything," he finally said with a bright smile. Actually, he was on the verge of offering to clear out until a more convenient time, but it looked like Ashton was all right with how things were working out, so he decided to let it drop. They'd promised to meet up, after all, and a promise was a promise, plain and simple.

To be honest, he hadn't expected Ashton to be all that okay after what had happened last night, but Claude was happy to hear some things were looking up for Ashton. "Well, all of that's understandable," he said. "You deserve to take some personal time, I think. I'm just glad you look better than you did before. At least you're up on your own two feet!"

He'd just assumed all of this manicure stuff was for relaxation. Actually, he'd never really looked at anyone's hands and decided they needed anything. Besides, a swordsman's hands were bound to get a little rough around the edges, right? If Ashton thought his hands were a mess, then where did that leave his own?

The blond suddenly slipped his hands into his jacket's pockets, as if he was afraid some salon lady was going to swoop down on him and haul him into the back.

"Oh! I forgot to introduce you two," Claude said. He'd been so caught up in all of that lady friend business, it'd completely slipped his mind. "Ashton, this Guy, uh..." Come to think of it, he'd never caught his friend's last name.

[icy_pole]

Ami nodded to Ashton, her cheeks still flushed, then turned and bowed slightly to the two men who had just arrived. One of them looked familiar. He must have been one of the people in the room with that...mimic-type monster the first night I arrived, she thought, though there had been so much going on it was hard to tell.

She moved over to a chair in a corner of the salon to let the three men talk in peace.

[Dropping back down to here]

[razing_phoenix]

Guy watched as the girl quickly dismissed herself. That was kind of weird, but it looked like she was the shy type. The type that Peony would have swept down on within seconds. He almost contemplated telling the man about her later, but that wouldn't have been fair to the poor girl.

What happened to be a lot more interesting, however, was how Claude and his friend were talking. It was obvious that something had happened to the latter the night before, and Guy mentally winced to think what it could have been. He had heard enough whisperings of horrible experiments already, but here was someone who had actually gone through it.

Part of him thought it would be best to get some more details, if only so he could report back to Jade about it, but that was just tactless. Guy knew better than that, and with the vague terms the other two were using, it didn't sound like it was open for discussion.

That didn't stop him from sending Ashton a worried look. "I hope you're all right. Whatever you went through, it doesn't sound good." But he wasn't going to say anything further than that, or come out with any questions. He knew better than most how some secrets had to be kept close.

It looked like it was time for introductions, though, which was a much easier topic. "Guy Cecil," he filled in, extending his hand toward Ashton. "It's nice to meet you." Now Claude had met Luke and he had met Ashton - perfect! Maybe the four of them could go exploring together one night. Though with Jade and Peony's plan, Guy wasn't certain how open his nights would be.

[part1of3]

Ashton watched Ami leave with a friendly (if nervous) wave, then stood up to grasp Guy's hand. "Ah, nice to meet you too, Guy." The blush was finally working on fading from his face. His hands were a little bit clammy; it was probably no surprise to anyone, considering his shy, jittery demeanor at the moment. But his grasp was firm, and he shook Guy's hand for a good moment before self-consciously scratching the back of his head, then returning his hands behind his back. "Claude and I go back. Sort of. We're swordsmen together. Uh.. we.. yeah. He got me possessed, and I stuck around, and then after a while we ended up here! Hahaha.." He swallowed suddenly.

"A-and, um.. you didn't interrupt anything," he said, turning to Claude. "I mean, I... well. Uh. There's nothing to be interrupted. Not with her, of course. You know that.. right? I mean.." He didn't know what to say. He could have said My debaucherous thoughts about your rival in swordsmanship and pretty much everything else were soundly interrupted by a person I don't really know very well but would feel terrible asking to go away but that probably wouldn't have turned out very well. "Never.. never mind," he ended up finishing before he could stick his foot any deeper into his mouth.

"But! Ah. I had a little surgery on my head last night," he said in explanation to Guy, voice surprisingly cheerful considering how terrible it had been, though his eyebrows were still creased with worry. "It wasn't very pretty. But now I've got a terrible headache, and, ah, I don't think the .. fumes or whatever are helping. Should we, um.. go outside?"

Without waiting for an answer, Ashton was already moving toward the door, his face turned away from them to hide his sudden wince. The manicure would have to wait.

[part1of3]

[ stumbling out to here ]

[full_score]

Claude's face flushed a little bit at Ashton's way of introduction. It was certainly true that he'd gotten Ashton possessed by demons, had turned him into "damaged goods", as his friend once put it. And it wasn't like Claude went out of his way to hide that fact. After all, if Ashton hadn't demanded he own up to what he'd done, then they wouldn't have become such good friends in the first place. In the long-run, it'd been a great thing for the both of them.

But that didn't mean it was the first thing he liked to share with people!

"Hahahah, yeah, it was kind of a mess, huh?" he said feebly before clearing his throat and turning to Guy. "I took full responsibility for everything, though. If I hadn't have been such a distraction, Ashton would have won his battle against the demons instead of getting possessed by them." He smiled a little. "But I think things worked out for the best in the end."

He'd promised Ashton he'd find a way to exorcise them, even if it took decades. But now that Gyoro and Ururun were gone, Ashton had told him he didn't need him anymore, that he'd better off studying at the university in Linga with Rena.

Claude still wasn't sure what he thought of all that.

He seemed a tad skeptical when Ashton insisted that he hadn't been interrupting anything, and instead he just patted his friend on the back. "Right, Ashton, I get it." Of course, with the way he'd said he wasn't involved with her, it made him wonder if that implied he had a thing going on with someone else.

I'm just over-thinking things, he told himself. Making a mountain out of a mole-hill and all that. He probably needed to tone that down. It couldn't be very good for his health.

When he remembered he'd never explained what had happened to Ashton, he felt a little bad for leaving Guy out of the loop. Actually, he'd intended to explain things in a little more detail to him later, when Ashton wasn't around. People needed to be warned about the dangers of the institute's experiments, after all.

But then Ashton went straight to the point, and Claude couldn't help but feel relieved. Hearing his friend sound so cheerful while the anxiety was still evident on his face was kind of disconcerting, though.

And before he could say anything, Ashton was already on his way outside. He gave a fleeting, uneasy glance towards Guy before following after him. "Yeah, uh, some fresh air sounds great."

((To here. ))